Posts Tagged With: Internet

In the flurry of all the flaming you have been receiving, I hope you are able to find time to sit down and read this. I would like to I introduce you to your West Coast counterpart, Alexandra Wallace. She is an ex-UCLA student, emphasis on EX. Alexandra Wallace’s bid to infamy came in a video that later on went viral. Many video responses made on youtube became viral also. Here is one by Jimmy Wong and DavidSoComedy. (Their responses to Alexandra Wallace actually also applies to your articles.) I just hope you also find out what happened to her after that post went viral online.

In this post I hope to break down your errors and help you understand why they are more ignorant than not.

“They are such an eyesore that I wish they would just put a big fat trigger warning on themselves, or just like wear one of those blankets that women from the Mid-East wear, jihads, or whatever, and cover up completely. “

As a self-proclaimed feminist, this sentence should not have even appeared in your post (let alone writing the entire post!) Really? This sentence solely shows the entire world or thought catalog community how thoughtless and ignorant of other cultures you are as a white woman (I will touch upon how you experience White Privilege later when I breakdown your 2nd post).

2. Back it up with Facts

“The WMAW phenomenon is itself one steeped in Patriarchal values, sexism and racism.”

If you are going to write something or anything, please, please, PLEASE back it up with facts! It is the same as writing a paper for college: you address the problem, you write your opinion, and you back it up with facts. Baseless claims will have your post going viral and being flamed similar to what Alexandra Wallace experienced a few years ago.

How is WMAW phenomenon steeped in Patriarchal values, sexism and racism? You do know you are contradicting yourself as in the previous paragraph you claimed that we “yellow women” are strong and independent. Are you also insinuating that, according to you, “normal” a white relationships is not steeped in patriarchal values, sexism and racism?

3. Millions of Asian women, really?

“Ever since its breakout, it has caused white men to trick millions of Asian women into relationships in which they’re being heavily taken advantage of.”

How are these white men tricking millions of Asian women into relationship where they get heavily taken advantage of? Where are the statistics? My genetics professor once said, “Numbers/Statistics don’t lie.” Bless him as much as I did not enjoy the class, that comment is correct. Show us some numbers Anne.

4. Scarlet Fever v. Yellow Fever

“Unlike Scarlet fever, which, thanks to modern medicine was gotten rid of after like the First Spanish civil war, scientists back then had no clue how to cure its coeval cousin, the Yellow fever Pandemic.”

You clearly have some clue as to what Scarlet fever is… (I am going on the assumption that you know.) However I hope you do know that Yellow Fever is an actual virus that people suffer from. Here, please educate yourself with this information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Please do some research before you make baseless claims!

5. Horsey? Really?

“Even now, in 2014, or the Horsey year as you guys call it,”

If you meant to be mocking, you did it quite unsuccessfully as I am not impressed. It makes you sound like a bloody 5 year old.

6. No Cure to Yellow Fever?

“we’re no closer to finding a cure.”

In #4, I mention that you should do research before you post. From the CDC website that I linked you, “Among those who develop severe disease, 20% – 50% may die.” and “Those who recover from yellow fever generally have lasting immunity against subsequent infection.”

There, that is CDC statistics.

7. Strong & Beautiful?

“White men suddenly stop going after strong and beautiful white women like myself, and start trading us for our shorter, black haired and more yellow-hued sisters, namely, you people. ”

Sorry, from what I have read so far I can only determine that you are strongly ignorant and beautifully self-confident. I applaud you for being beautifully self-confident as you think yourself as strong and beautiful. However, you are definitely strongly ignorant. As Macy has mentioned in point #3 in her article, White Men Dating Asian Women Isn’t The Problem – Your Racism Is (Plus, Tips On How To Cure Yourself), you sound quite jealous. Must be our flawless black hair? Jealousy does not suit you. In addition, I’m sure you haven’t met many Asians as you are generalizing all of us. Yes, I might be 5 ft. 2in. but I am proud of it. However, you do know that there are Asian women out there that are close, if not over, 6ft tall?

In addition, please do not ignore all the short white women out there. Do tell all of us how tall YOU are… & back this stuff up with statistics… @_@”

8. Asian Women as Robots?

“causes White men not only to date outside their own race, but also to see you Asian women as nothing but dehumanized, servile Toshiba robots”

Really? Last time I checked I am as human as the next person. My blood is the same color as a person from another ethnicity. Again, you do not back your claims up with facts. Get this: “Asian women =/= dehumanized servile Toshiba robots” sorry to disappoint. This isn’t like the movies: iRobot or Terminator…

9. Pleasantness

“Being pleasant is NOT a good trait, that’s a very Patriarchal way of thinking, being pleasant denotes that you’re not fierce and strong like women should be.”

First off, here is the dictionary definition of pleasant in the context you are using it. From Dictionary.com: Pleasant – (of persons, manners, disposition, etc.) socially acceptable or adept; polite; amiable; agreeable.

Sorry, how is being pleasant not a good trait? According to you I can’t be fierce and strong if i’m “socially acceptable or adept, polite, amiable, agreeable”?

Are you also implying that you aren’t “socially acceptable or adept, polite, amiable, agreeable”? That just reminds me of Ron Weasley’s table manners.

10. History Portion

I am not even going to get into it… and please spell HISTORY right way…. spelling it HERstory doesn’t make you a feminist. It makes you look like you are unable to type or utilize spell check…

11. Cultured = Bruce Chan?

“Being a very cultured young woman in her twenties who watches a lot of foreign film, I faced this stereotype many years ago. I mean how many female ninjas do you see in all the Bruce Chan movies ?”

If you were a “very cultured young woman in her twenties who watches a lot of foreign film” you would not have made the mistake that it’s Bruce Lee and not Bruce Chan…

Again you generalize! You clearly have only watched “foreign” films made by Hollywood. Have you watched some terrible movies such as “The Grandmaster” or movies with Maggie Q in it? Yes they are still sexualized in those films. However, Hollywood film does the same exact thing to white women.

Unless you are referring to Jackie Chan movies and female fight scenes? If I recall correctly, CZ12 had a fight scene amongst two women.

Finally, Female ninjas? Ninjas actually come from the Japanese Culture. So you maybe thinking about females who know kung-fu? Well, in the previous paragraphs I already made my suggestions (to some female fighting scenes).

12. Cavemen Syndrome

“It is obvious that White men, a group that is infamous for watching movies, have harnessed this stereotype and now use it to justify pouncing on unsuspecting Asian women.”

Since we do not live in the era of the cavemen, men who: clump women over the head with anything, throw (women) over their shoulder and then proceed to pounce them, is highly frowned upon. It is probably the quickest way to end up being arrested and possibly in prison.

13. Exotifying, Objectifying, and Dehumanizing

“They do this, of course, to feed their own twisted need to feel masculine and dominant, while exotifying, objectifying and dehumanizing you poor Asians. You hear that Asian women? They think you’re exotic, like Fanta Exotic. That’s right. White Men think you’re about as human as a carbonated drink.”

I feel like you cannot just clump masculinity, dominance, exoticism, objectifying, and dehumanizing all together and not explain why you think that. Men are stereotypically thought to be masculine and dominant which is part of the reason why they’re taught that “crying is for wimps” or some tosh like that. However, exotifying, objectifying and dehumanizing? White men are not the ONLY men who exotify and objectify Asian women…

On Friday while I was out with friends and as we were leaving, a NON-WHITE waiter stopped me and proceed to apologize and ask if I was Chinese. Then later on tell me I just looked so beautiful. So NO, White men are not the only ones exotifying and objectifying women.

I hope as a Feminist you are aware that white men are not the only ones objectifying women in general, right?

Finally, please do enlighten me about how White men dehumanize Asian women I would love to know.

14. You All Look The Same!

“And, like they’re not even dating you for your looks, because, like no offense, but you all look kind of similar, so they’re dating you purely because of your race.”

Wow. Over-generalization. I’m sorry but you and Alexandra Wallace must be related because with your logic I can say, “don’t be offended but all White Women look the same.” I can reassure you, we do not all look the same nor are we all a carbon copies of each other. THAT would be worrisome and weird.

15. Asian Men

“No offense, but they’re like kinda short and nerdy and not very hot. I mean they’re perfect for you, you’re like made for each other, but white men kind of like, belong to us.”

I’m sorry, what? Short, nerdy and not very hot? *sigh* First of all, you are generalizing as I know Asian men who aren’t short… What’s wrong with being nerdy? There are nerdy white men too. I guess that’s a turn off for you? Asian men who are not very hot, hmm.. wow. You have clearly not come in contact with a lot of Asians for you to say that. I pity thee. Please come to NYC maybe then you’ll come in contact with more.

Finally, what is this about white men belonging to white girls? Sorry girl, there is no written rule about white men belonging to white girls. I’m sorry you think that way, because it just shows that you are a narrow-minded individual.

16. Mandarin?

“Help me put a stop to this Mandarin madness, show your Asian friends this article and send tweet under #stopWMAW.”

So help me! Mandarin is a dialect of Chinese. Chinese spoken in China. China is a nation in the continent of Asia. Before you jump with your messed up logic that Mandarin = Asian, Mandarin is spoken in a few countries in Asia but not all. Last time I checked, Russia still spoke Russian, Korea still spoke Korean and Japan still spoke Japanese, etc.

This post is the result of my ASIAN friend showing me this article. I shall congratulate you as you caused me to come back to this blog after a year of absence to deconstruct/rip apart your post instead of writing my thesis.

I feel like we should either tweet under #StopAnneGus or #End Ignorance, that would be more appropriate. I hope this post will help you educate yourself and realize how ignorant you truly are.

This semester has been one filled with discovery and learning. Somewhere along this long winding road of this semester, I discovered my inner-feminist. Maybe it was there the whole time and I just never knew where to look for it, however, I am really glad I found my inner-feminist. This new discovery brought about a new perspective in my learning career. Professors Daniels and Richardson taught us to use “gender as a lens to discover the underlying struggles” that we have seen in pictures and in life.

Lessons on sex education with Shelby Knox had a profound impact about my view in the world and in life. There is this awe and deep respect when meeting Shelby. Awe because here is this amazing women, who strove for what she believed in at the age of 15. Deep respect because she is able to stand for her beliefs and not let anyone influence her beliefs and goals. Her resilience is just amazing. I just can’t stop singing her praises!

The discussion of the Queer and Trans community and viewing of “Southern Comfort” was interesting as it put me out of my comfort zone. I remember attempt to write my assigned blog post about this topic and I really struggled with it. I did not know how to write about the topic nor was I really connected with the topic. Therefore, without any clue what I was truly doing, I wrote the article and I felt it may have turned out better than I expected.

After the viewing of Pink Ribbon Inc., I became hyper aware of the practices of pinkwashing. Before this class, I already had an introduction into pinkwashing from a previous class, however, we went into more detail about it in this one. For that I am grateful.

Street harassment became a hot topic that I discussed about quite a few times. At first it was written due to the lecture we had with Jaclyn Friedman on Slutwalk and Hollaback. However, it also evolved into something so much bigger than I had hope for. I found an interest within the vast space of feminism. I think experiencing street harassment by a bunch of high schoolers added fuel to my “street harassment rampage” fire. Now, writing my long paper about street harassment, I realize that I have only scratch the extensive surface of street harassment.

These are only a few of the many topics covered in my “Feminism, New Media and Health” class. If I were to go on, I think it would take me a good day to summarize each class for you all! Therefore to check out everything I learned in this class check this out: HONS:201.

I walked into this class not knowing what to expect out of it and now walking out of it with a greater sense of clarity. This class has been amazing and perspective shifting that I cannot thank the professors enough for imparting their extensive knowledge to my classmates and I. However, this is not goodbye to my blog but a farewell to my amazing class. Therefore, no fret! I will return and post on this blog however possibly cut down to once a week. I ask for you forgiveness early as my postings may become sporadic when next semester rolls around as I will be taking 6 classes. Thank you for the amazing support so far and for the your support in the future.

Like this:

Art. Everyone has a different definition, interpretation and idea of it (excuse the generalization here). That is what makes art unique. Vocal art is music and our interpretation of music. This can be your own interpretation of a popular artist’s song. However, there is a limit as to how “unique” vocal art can truly get. Thanks to media, such as YouTube, we are able to view different interpretations of popular music.

I linked this video to my friends and here is their response, verbatim. “Christine, Wth did I just watch?!” and “at the beginning i thought she was having an orgasm…” If your reactions were anything like my friends [as opposed to the author from Jezebel.com] than I am glad we agree on something. I just hope and pray the author was exhibiting some heavy sarcasm when she posted that article. Personally, I was horrified at what I watched and felt that I lost 30 seconds of my life that I would never get back. When I referred to “unique” vocal art, I was thinking more along the lines of artists who have made a name for themselves through YouTube.

Alex Goot (video above), Jimmy Wong, Jason Chen, Sam Tsui, Boyce Avenue are only a couple of the YouTube vocal artists that garner about a couple million views in the videos they make. These YouTube sensations truly have amazing talent that may rival music made by well known artists. Sometimes I would prefer YouTube artist’s rendition of popular culture song over the original singer’s. Mike Tompkins is one of the YouTube artists that utilizes his voice and mouth to create all the sounds for his videos. Below is Mike’s creative rendition of ‘Fireworks’ by Katy Perry.

Media and the internet has given us a new outlet to express ourselves. The use of twitter, facebook, and other social media outlets have brought us closer to our favorite celebrities. The same media outlets has also given us new ways to express art. So now contemplate this: is Yoko Ono’s screaming considered to be art? Is it art if the person who created is a celebrity? What is considered art?

Extra:

Below is the original song ‘Fireworks’ sung by Katy Perry for all my friends who have not heard the song before.

Natural v. Styled. Long v. Short. Curly v. Straight. Dyed v. Not Dyed. Hair. It is part of our bodies, but can also be considered an artwork or an entity of its own. However, hair is more noticed by some people than others. Sometimes how kept a person’s hair can determine their personality or how well one dresses. Did you know during the London 2012 Olympics Gabby Douglas was criticized for her hair? Tiya Miles writes an article for CNN titled, Opinion: Why focus on Gabby Douglas’ hair?, which discusses how there was a spotlight on Gabby’s hair while also basking in her win of Gold.

While watching the re-run of the Gymnastic events, I was focused on Team USA’s routine and performance. However, I did unconsciously observe each gymnasts’ hairstyle. What I am having trouble wrapping my head around is the fact that there was a major discussion on Gabby Douglas’ hair at the time she is also receiving her Olympic medals. I know that haircare is important, however, do women truly need to mutilate their hair to adhere to a standard that the hegemonic society has set?

Like this:

Because the personal is political. Because the bedroom is a political space. Because queers have been silenced for such a long time, any and every expression of our identity, of what makes us who we are, is revolutionary.

The internet is a critical resource for marginalized or socially suspect groups and subjects, providing a unique space for the expression and transmission of often ostracized ideas and identities.

Taken from Donna Koehn’s article “Patriotism inspired “Rosies” to serve country during war”

Rosie the Riveter is an iconic image of the U.S. from World War II era. It was used as propaganda to spur women to take on an active role on the home front during WWII. Rosie symbolizes the alternative occupations to being a housewife during the war, it was the first step to working women. However, Rosie the Riveter can also symbolize many ideals as this well-known icon can be interpreted in so many different ways.

Rosie (from the picture shown above) can be seen to have a very feminine face with bright red lipstick and a very masculine body build. One can argue that Rosie the Riveter is a transfemale (someone who is born male that identifies as female) that has begun the process of transitioning her body to become identical to her internal identity.

Lea T. is the first transsexual super model and she has begun her transitioning from male to female. In the video below, Oprah interviews Lea T. and learns of Lea’s journey as a woman in a male body. One point that was brought up was Lea’s parents and their reactions to her decision of being a transfemale. The differing reactions from Lea’s parents also identifies the struggle parents’ of children who queer, bisexual, or trans faces.

Oprah has interviewed people who are intersex and then she interviewed Lea T. By interviewing all these people, she is utilizing the media to spread awareness that our world is not solely of two sexes.

In “Queer Blogging in Indian Digital Diasporas: A Dialogic Encounter,” Rahul Mitra and Radhika Gajjala felt that online blogging creates differing meanings of the same concept between online and offline reality. The differing meanings between the online and offline worlds may be due to the generational gap that may exist. However, which concept then becomes the mainstream and widely accepted concept?

In “On Queer Liberation and My Own Struggle,” Doug starts off explaining the differences between gender and sex while also giving the correct terminology of queer, tran, bi, and pan instead of using LGBT. In the quote (seen all the way in the beginning), he emphasizes that the individuality is also the key to revolutionizing, while also breaking down stereotypes and ignorance.

Did you know that december of last year, a few bloggers asked their readers and Toronto’s trans community to boycott Xtra!, (a major queer media outlet)? I didn’t. I only found out about the boycott through one of the trans blogs i found while writing for this post. Although the incident was settled within a day, why did it not make headline news? How is the latest celebrity scandal more important than people being disrespected for being themselves?

Another blog I found is by a trans activist and writer named Julia Serano. In her blog titled, Whipping Girl, she gives updates on upcoming events, however on the occasion, she’ll blog and I found her pre-election post titled, Thoughts on the election and “Romnesia,” very interesting.

Finally, a blog written by Angus “Andrea” Grieve-Smith titled, Trans Blog. I found his/her blog post titled, My life as a data point, quite interesting as he/she exposes the problems of generalizing test results. I quite enjoyed how he/she took apart the study piece by piece with his/her opinions as it showed the readers the discrepancies, even if it was only one person of the many they studied. Sometimes, it only takes one participant to make all the differences in the results.

I feel that the queer community has had a greater voice now than 20 years ago, however, this voice took several decades to be heard. The trans community also has a voice, although significantly smaller in volume. How do we raise trans’ and queers’ voice? How do we knock down the wall of ignorance society has placed?